The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and an on-vehicle electronic device and an automobile each including the semiconductor device and, for example, relates to a semiconductor device suitable for driving a load such a lamp, and an on-vehicle electronic device and an automobile each including the semiconductor device.
An automobile is equipped with an electronic control unit (ECU) that electronically controls an engine, a lamp, an airbag, a power window and other systems. The electronic control unit includes an intelligent power device (IPD) that drives a load such as a lamp.
A technique related to the load driving device is disclosed in Romeo Letor et al, “How to implement a fault tolerant and reliable automotive power management system in short circuit operation by using ST's VIPower M0tm technology”. The structure of this related art prevents overheating of an output transistor by limiting the current flowing through the output transistor in stages by using two types of temperature detection functions.